


It's coming down on me

by erintoknow



Series: Aria [10]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Female Friendship, POV Female Character, POV First Person, Slow Burn, Trans Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 11:37:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20796029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erintoknow/pseuds/erintoknow
Summary: Hollow Ground is at the center of all of this, Julia knows it. She just hasn't proved it yet.





	It's coming down on me

**Author's Note:**

> [[Paresthesia by Wild Ones]](https://wildones.bandcamp.com/track/paresthesia)

I’ve just finished signing my name on the card when Ariadne wanders into my office. Full suit and mask back on, I see. Coat hanging open, the only concession to the Los Diablos heat. I have to hope, for her sake if nothing else, that she broke out the piggy bank for one of those high-quality suits that breathe. Otherwise I’m bound to find her passed out on some city block one of these days.

“Charge,” she taps a finger to her forehead in a fake salute. Can’t see her face under the mask, but her body language is relaxed. Or at least, as relaxed as she ever gets.

“Sidestep, Sarah told me you were coming up,” I return the salute, flash her a grin. “What brings you by today?”

She turns away, studying the bookshelf I’ve set up on the north-facing wall, to the left of my desk. She shrugs, “n–no reason.”

Air conditioning it was then.

“Well,” I shuffle the card and papers on my desk into a folder. “Anything I can help with?”

The minor twitch of her shoulders betrays the flinch. “N–no, thank you. I’m good.” I wait her out. “A–actually… I was wondering… are you… uh– busy? –Like I mean, t–t–tonight?”

I tap a pen to my chin. The constant face mask makes reading her a challenge, but after a little over a year of knowing her, I’m starting to get a handle on the vocabulary. “This a social visit, Ari? That’s a rare invite.”

There’s that twitch again, and she crosses her arms. “M–maybe? We just…”

Suppose I can’t put this conversation off forever then, I offer an apologetic frown. “Not tonight, I’m afraid. Maybe we can do something next week?”

“Oh. Uh–” She rocks back and forth heels as she talks, “C–c–can I ask why? Secret Ranger stuff?”

I shake my head, hold a breath, “It’s Hood’s birthday today. Or, well, it would have been.” I can’t stop the frown on my face. The hurt’s still raw, no point denying it.

“The previous Marshal?”

I push my chair back, try to roll the tension out of my shoulder. “We were… pretty close.” I admit. “Like family.” That’s about much detail as I dare. No one needs a sob story. Especially someone like Ari. She’s let slip she’s got plenty of her own to deal with.

Ariadne studies the floor in front of her feet. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” I say. Another flinch, interesting. “It’s Hollow Ground’s.”

At least as Marshal I have the power to do something about it.

Her shoulders sag and she looks up. “_That_’s why you’re obsessed with them?”

Hopefully my laughter doesn’t sound too bitter. “Come on Ari, you hadn’t figured that out by now?”

“Well I– I guess I never– I mean…” She goes silent for a moment. “It’s one thing to just come out and say it.”

“Sorry for not cluing you in sooner,” try on a reassuring smile, “I kind of figured everyone knew.”

“That was… two years ago, right?”

“Next month.

Watch as Ariadne drums her fingers against her elbow. “H–h–how do you… know it’s really Hollow Ground that did it? I mean… Hollow Ground might n–n–not even be real. Anyone can say they’re anyone. Doesn’t– Doesn’t make it true.”

Because I was there. I don’t say. Because I was forced into hanging back to play look-out, I don’t add. Because I met Hollow Ground once, by accident and didn’t even realize it until way later, I don’t explain. And that night where everything went to hell I saw her cropped red hair flee the scene into the shadows before I could give chase, I don’t conclude.

“Call it a hunch,” I say.

“Hmmm.” She tilts her head, “Y–you’re being sneaky again, a–aren’t you.”

“Me?” I put a hand to my chest, grin. “I’m always forthright.”

Ariadne huffs and falls backwards onto a chair, kicking her legs out in front of her. “If you s–say so, Charge.” She pulls off her mask and shakes her head, hand through her hair as the dark-red curls fall down to frame her face. Presses her lips together in a thin line, thinking.

Huh. So I wasn’t hallucinating then.

“Wow,” I tease, before she can catch me staring, “I had to get chopped up with a sword to get you take that mask off the first time. If I knew all it took was turning you down for a date, I’d have tried that a lot sooner.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I–I–I’ll put the mask back on, asshole.”

“Hey!” I laugh, “No need for that.”

Seeing her face that the first time had been something of a shock. Admittedly, I had been down on the ground, bleeding a distressing amount from a sword wound that first time. Seeing her again, there’s time to notice little things I couldn’t have caught the first time around. Such as the faint ghost of freckles peppered under her eyes.

As far as I can tell she appeared on the crime-fighting scene not long before we met, operating in a part of town I _know_ to have a heavy Hollow Ground presence. Won’t talk much about where she came from or what she was doing before that. At first it seemed like she might be living with someone, but then all allusions to that stopped around April. Something bad had happened, that much was obvious but getting details from her was a hell of a challenge.

Still… there’s been enough bread crumbs. Bad childhood; abusive. Living as a run-away? And now this resemblance… Siblings? Parent? Would maybe explain where she had gotten the Hero drug from; The need for secrecy at all costs; The turn to crime fighting. Can’t doubt her bravery for all the skittish she has around just being social, that’s for sure.

Chen just thinks she’s a plant, or a spy. From the mayor’s team, or someone in a rival government office. Suppose I can’t cross it out; add spy for Hollow Ground to the list for the sake of completeness. None of them seem to fit the evidence to me, but I can’t completely dismiss the concern either.

She _is_ hiding something. Something big, certainly. But, Ari, malicious? She’s just too… Even Themmy’s taken a shine to her, and I can usually trust Anathema’s judge of character. She’s saved my life, at least once now. If she hasn’t earned a little trust, what more could she possibly have to do?

Funny how quickly things come full circle. From mystery figure to puzzle piece back around again to–

“Y–y–you’re staring.” Ariadne fidgets in the chair, toying with her mask in her hands.

Whoops.

I laugh it off, shift my focus elsewhere, out the window. “Sorry, lost in thought.”

“Hood a–and Hollow Ground?”

“You got me.”

“If–If there’s anyway I can.. uh, help. Ju–just ask.”

I look back at her, meet her smile with my own. “Of course.”

The real question is, what’ll take to earn _her_ trust? She could be the key to this whole mess and – I need to be honest with myself; it’s not just about Hood anymore. If Ari really is connected, then she’s putting herself in a crazy amount of danger, playing vigilante. I _should_ discourage it. If nothing else, it’s not exactly the best look for the Marshal to be relying so frequently on a vigilante. But there’s too much riding on this and… well, okay, I _like_ having her around.

I just can’t afford to screw this one up.


End file.
